HIGH SCHOOL SWIMMING Harding's King leads qualifiers

Tyler King only area competitor to win a qualifying race for district meets. A total of 33 individuals and 14 relay teams advanced though sectional competition over the weekend. Warren Harding's Tyler King was the only individual winner as he captured first place in the Division I 100 backstroke. King also was eighth in the 200 freestyle. Boardman freshman Conner O'Halloran finished second in the 50 freestyle. All of the qualifiers advanced to the district meet Friday and Saturday at Cleveland State University. The top five finishers in each event from there will advance to the state meet in Canton. There were nine individual swimmers in the Div. I boys competition who qualified in two events for the district. Besides King, the others were Canfield's Eric Davis (10th in 200 freestyle and 15th in the 100 freestyle), Hubbard's Anthony Tarr (36th 200 freestyle and 45th 100 freestyle), Canfield's Rob Frankle (11th 200 individual medley and 9th 100 breaststroke), Poland's Cody Robson (12th 200 IM and 10th 100 butterfly), Harding's Todd Palstein (21st 200 IM and 29th 100 butterfly), Canfield's Jordan Grahan (21st 50 freestyle and 38th 100 freestyle), Canfield's Mike Branan (14th 100 butterfly and 26th 100 backstroke), and Boardman's Chad Henson (41st 100 butterfly and 32nd 100 backstroke). Robinson top girl qualifier The best finish in Div. I girls was by Boardman's Haley Robinson, who was sixth in the 100 breaststroke. She also finished 31st in the 200 individual medley. Other double qualifiers in the division were Howland's Kristine Mann (27th in 200 IM and 16th in 100 butterfly), Howland's Heather Gilmour (11th 200 freestyle and 21st 500 freestyle), Canfield's Margaret Matavich (26th 50 freestyle and 26th 100 freestyle), and Howland's Chelsea Palma (24th 50 freestyle and 35th 100 freestyle). In Div. II girls, Warren JFK's Julia Greges was the only double qualifier and had the best finish. She was 10th in the 50 freestyle and also took 24th in the 100 freestyle. In the relays Boardman and Canfield qualified all three of its teams in the boys division while Harding had two teams. Canfield girls qualified all three of its relay teams in Div. I, while Howland and Boardman had one each. Warren JFK had the only relay team to qualify in Div. II.